Medical savings accounts - in search of an alternative method of health care financing in European countries

In times of increasing health care expenditure and insufficient cover provided by publicly financed health systems additional, alternative methods of health care financing become more and more considerable. The purpose of the paper is to present the concept of Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) and possibilities of their application in the health care systems of European countries. First, the author describes the idea of MSAs and reviews positive and negative findings about the effects of implementing this method into the health systems. Next, two main approaches to the application of MSAs in health care financing are considered. In the last part of the paper, the possibilities of introducing MSAs into health care systems in European countries are discussed. The author takes into consideration the existing health care financing conditions and other specific institutional, socio-economic and cultural factors as the main determinants for successful designing and implementation of the MSA scheme in a given country.